Writing the Social: Critique, Theory, and Investigations

Margaret Kechnie, who teaches in the Women’s Studies Program at
Laurentian University, is the co-editor of Changing Lives: Women in
Northern Ontario.

Dorothy Smith’s hallmark wit and commonsense approach to social theory
are again evident in Writing the Social. In her introduction, Smith
claims that her past research has followed quite traditional lines of
enquiry. Her latest work, however, originates in the “intertextuality
of [her] own experience as a reader.” The papers, written by Smith
over the past eight years, are all concerned with what she refers to as
“ruling relations” and particularly with her own participation in
ruling relations. In attempting to achieve her goal, Smith draws on her
own experiences with the dichotomies of everyday life, such as the
politics of family life and the structure of her own workplace, the
university. By drawing on examples from these environments, Smith sheds
light on some of the most difficult concepts in sociological theory. For
followers of Dorothy Smith’s theories, Writing the Social is a
must-read.